1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a washing and drying machine and a clothes dryer and particularly, to a washing and drying machine and a clothes dryer capable of removing moisture contained in air circulated to dry clothes.
2. Description of the Background Art
Generally, a clothes dryer is an instrument for drying washing material by supplying heated air to the washing material which was washed and dewatered by a washing machine and the like. This type of clothes dryer includes a drum positioned in a case rotatably, for accommodating clothes inside, a driving motor for rotating the drum, an air circulating duct for supplying and circulating heated air into the drum and a heater and blower which are positioned in the air circulative duct.
Recently, a washing and drying machine having a function of a dryer in a washing machine is devised. The conventional washing and drying machine will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a conventional clothes washing and drying machine and FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a flowing structure of air in the washing and drying machine of FIG. 1.
With reference to FIG. 2, the conventional washing and drying machine includes a case 110 having a receiving space inside, an outer tub installed in the case 110, for storing washing water inside, an inner tub 121 installed in the outer tub 111 rotatably, for accommodating clothes which will be washed, dewatered and dried and a pulsator 123 positioned on the inner bottom surface of the inner tub 121 rotatably, for forming a flow of washing water.
The washing and drying machine further includes a driving motor 113 installed on the bottom surface of the outer tub 111, for rotating and driving the inner tub 121 and pulsator 123, a power transmission device installed among the driving motor 113, inner tub 121 and the pulsator 123, for transmitting a rotation force of the driving motor 113 and performing clutching operation simultaneously, a drain hose connected on the bottom surface of the outer tub 111, for discharging washing water and a drain valve 117 installed in the drain hose installed in the drain hose 115, for opening and closing the drain hose 115.
The washing and drying machine further includes an air hose 125 extending from the lower side to the upper side in the case 110, for supplying heated air into the inner tub 121, a heater 127 positioned in the air hose 125, for heating air and a blower 129 positioned in the air hose 125, for compulsorily flowing air to add a drying function to such composition of the washing machine.
The operation of the conventional washing and drying machine with the above composition will be described as follows. When clothes are washed and dewatered, washing water is filled in the outer tub 111 and then washing and dewatering are performed rotating the pulsator 123 and the inner tub 121. To dry clothes which were washed and dewatered, the heater 127 and the blower 129 are operated. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, air heated in the heater 127 is supplied into the inner tub 121 through the air hose 125.
The heated air supplied into the inner tub 121 dries wet clothes being contacted with the dewatered clothes and then is discharged to the outside of the case 110 through the drain hose 115.
The present inventors have determined that the background art suffers from the following disadvantages. Since the conventional washing and drying machine supplies air around the outer tub 111 into the inner portion of the inner tub 121 after heating the air by the heater 127 without an additional dehumidifying process, a heating means such as heater 127 or burner (not shown) with a relatively larger capacity is required to have a sufficient drying performance and since time for drying is lengthened in case humidity of the air is high, consumption of electricity and gas is increased, thus to increase energy consumption.
Accordingly, the present inventors have determined that clothes dryers which partly dehumidify the air by mixing air with a relatively low temperature flown from the outside and air contacted with clothes and discharged, with high temperature and humidify, heats the dehumidified air and supplies the dehumidified air into the inner tub have been devised. However, the conventional clothes dryers cannot perform dehumidifying performance well and accordingly, time for drying cannot be sufficiently shortened.
Therefore, the present invention provides a washing and drying machine and a clothes dryer capable of drying clothes by heating under the condition that the air is dehumidified using a refrigerating cycle, thus to reduce time for drying clothes and energy consumption.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a.
The inner tub is positioned rotatably centering around a rotation shaft positioned in the vertical direction of the case and the case, outer tub and inner tub respectively have an opened upper surface. A closing means for closing the inner portion is installed at the opened upper portion of the outer tub.
The air circulating duct is diverged from the drain hose and a valve means for switching the opening and closing direction and flowing direction is installed at the position where the drain hose and the air circulative duct are diverged. The valve means can perform a first operation for blocking the drain hose and air circulating duct not to discharge washing water, a second operation for closing the air circulating duct side and opening the drain hose side to discharge the washing water and a third operation for closing the drain hose side and opening the air circulating duct side to circulate air.
The dehumidification device is positioned at the front side of the heater in the air flowing direction. The blower, dehumidification device and the heater are consecutively installed in the air flowing direction in the air circulating duct.
A water pipe is connected to the lower portion of the air circulating duct to discharge dehumidified water.
The dehumidification device includes a compressor, a condenser, a capillary tub and an evaporator which form the refrigerating cycle circuit and the evaporator is installed in the air circulating duct and a water cooling apparatus is further included to cool water by the water cooling method.
The water cooling apparatus is composed of a cooling water tank installed at the center portion of the drain hose, for storing washing water discharged from the outer tub and cooling the condenser. A part of the refrigerant line for connecting the evaporator and condenser is cooled passing through the refrigerant line.
A water level control device for maintaining a certain water level is installed in the water cooling tank. The water level control device includes an open/close valve is installed in the drain hose connected to the lower side of the cooling water tank and an overflow tube connected to the upper portion of the cooling water tank.
To achieve the above object, a clothes dryer includes a drum positioned in a case, in which clothes are dried, an upper cover and lower cover which are fixed in the case and combined to both sides of the drum, for supporting the drum to rotate, a driving motor installed at the lower cover, for rotating the drum, an air circulating duct connected from the lower cover to the upper cove, in which air for drying the clothes inputted into the drum is circulated, a blower installed in the air circulating duct, for compulsorily circulating air, a heating device installed in the air circulating duct, for heating the circulating air and a dehumidification device for humidifying air circulated into the air circulating duct.
The drum is positioned rotatably centering around a rotation shaft positioned in the vertical direction of the case and the case, outer tub and inner tub respectively have an opened upper surface. A closing device for closing the inner portion at the opened portion of the upper cover.
The dehumidification device is positioned at the front side of the heater in the air flowing direction and the blower, dehumidification device and the heater are consecutively installed in the air flowing direction in the air circulating duct.
A water pipe for discharging water dehumidified is connected to the lower end portion of the air circulating duct.
The dehumidification device comprises a compressor, a condenser, a capillary tub and an evaporator which compose a refrigerating cycle circuit and the evaporator is installed in the air circulating duct.
A cooling water tank capable of storing a certain amount of cooling water to cool the condenser by the water cooling method is further included and the water cooling apparatus has a cooling water tank for storing a certain amount of cooling water.
The a water supply hose and drain hose are respectively connected to the cooling water tank and a drain pipe for discharging dehumidified water to the cooling water tank is connected to the lower end portion of the air circulating duct.
A water level control device for maintaining a certain water level is installed in the cooling water tank.
The foregoing and other, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.